Women¡¯s doubles tennis hopes for gold

"Only with aggressive service returns by Yoo Ji-Hae, the power of Kim Moo-Gyo`s attack can come alive. If Kim Moo-Gyo is forced to take the defensive in the rally, the advantageous merits will not be seen."

Yoon Sang-Moon, director of the Korean table tennis national team, explained the advantageous quality of the doubles team of Yoo Ji-Hae of Samsung Life and Kim Moo-Gyo of Korean Air.

The right-handed Yoo and the left-handed Kim are both talented power players. However, while Yoo has shown her skill in drop shots and defense, Kim has a prolific offensive arsenal with her excellent smash and drives. However, Kim`s defensive ability is at times lackluster.

In the director¡¯s opinion, for the Yoo-Kim doubles team to display their abilities to the fullest, they must be aggressive in the offensive side.

It goes without saying that the Yoo-Kim doubles team hopes for gold at the Sydney Olympic Games. It is their hope and aspiration to bring the gold medal home to Korea for the first time in 12 years since the team of Yang Young-Ja and Hyun Jung-Hwa won the gold in the 1988 Games in Seoul.

In a pre-Olympic event, the Yoo-Kim team won the open table tennis championship in Brazil last month, increasing their chances for gold. The Yoo-Kim team beat Wang Nan and Li Ju of China, who currently hold world rankings of first and second, in the final match. In the semifinal match, the Yoo-Kim team beat Shu Zin and Chen Jing of Taiwan after having beating Sun Jin and Yang Ying of China in the quarterfinals. The victories over the world`s top players demonstrate that the Yoo-Kim team is approaching the peak prior to the Sydney games.

Joo Sung-Won swon@donga.com